During those (hopefully infrequent) traumatic periods in life, it sometimes occurs that an individual will change the stories he tells himself, thus altering the logical parameters within which he goes about his daily business. In order to adapt to the startlingly new conditions around him, he will tend to arrive at conclusions regarding his place in the world that bear little resemblance to the conclusions he had drawn up until that point. Imprisonment, be it self-imposed or imposed by others, is one external pressure - in this author’s experience and opinion - that weighs heavily upon most logical parameters previously held, so heavily that significant adjustments will almost always be made. A person will alter his routines and expectations to fit the new world in which he lives, often jettisoning what to outsider observers might appear to be rational and sound practices in favor of more fluid decision matrixes. To minimize the pain coming into his life he will often begin to display an unhealthy obedience to the person or persons whom he has given power over his mental state, especially if his new ‘master’ has little concern for his emotional well-being. The more neglectful those above him become, the less he will take care of himself physically and mentally, thus hastening the decline of both his physical and mental health.

Many prisons in which people today live are not prisons in the traditional sense, ones composed of walls, bars, and guards. Instead, these prisons are often mental states built upon hastily erected logical parameters designed to minimize the pain and suffering caused by something like a soured business deal, a bad financial decision, a poorly-chosen spouse, or an encounter with the police. Such is the strength of the stories we humans tell ourselves that what was once known to be nonsense suddenly sounds like truth. There is no easy way out of self-imposed, mental imprisonment to an illogical external force; as with most things that cause suffering in this world, the only way out is through - via counseling, meditation, and the nurturing of an inner compassion for the self. Mahalo, and be well.